Trócaire warns of funding crisis as it asks people to return Lenten Appeal boxes

72 female community influencers in the Gedo region of Somalia are going to every household and teaching appropriate hygiene practices to each family in their districts. Picture from Trócaire

Trócaire has warned it is facing a funding crisis and has urged people to return the contents of their Trócaire box online or by phone.

The Irish charity usually collects £7.1 million in its annual Lenten Appeal but due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions has suffered a 60% deficit.

Trócaire warned that the drop in donations is threatening many of its projects which help three million people around the world.

Two-thirds of the money raised during the Lenten Appeal comes from Trócaire boxes and the charity's CEO says unless this year's donations are returned it "won’t be able to provide life-saving support to some of the poorest people in the world".

Caoimhe de Barra urged people to count or estimate the amount of money in their Trócaire box and donate it.

“People all over Ireland, north and south, fill their Trócaire boxes to support the world’s poorest people, but the closure of schools and churches means that support is not getting through," she said.

“Thousands of boxes are sitting in homes across Ireland. Unless these generous donations are returned, we won’t be able to provide life-saving support to some of the poorest people in the world."

The charity has had to respond to coronavirus in each of the 20 countries it works in. In some instances it is funding medical care and supporting quarantine facilities; in other cases it is providing soap, water and handwashing stations.

72 female community influencers in the Gedo region of Somalia are going to every household and teaching appropriate hygiene practices to each family in their districts. Picture from Trócaire

Trócaire works in 11 African nations where more than 100,0000 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Irish News deputy digital editor Maeve Connolly visited Honduras with Trócaire in March to learn about the dangers facing human rights and environmental defenders in the Central American country and what the Irish charity is doing to support them. You can read her reports on Monday May 25 and Tuesday May 26.